001There's no way to get back. Mic check. One, two. Mic check. Podium. 1 2 3 4 5 Check check check. 1 2 3 for the email to come through. And over on the side. One, two, three. Check. One, two. Testing. One, two, three. She sent me something. Next mic. One, two, three, four, five. Check. One, two. made light of it. Yes. See what you done up on the de 2 3 4 5 check. One two one two. Testing. Next mic. One two three check. One two one two. I wish we were going home to watch Duke play tonight, but we're not. Next mic. One, two, three. Check one, two. Check. One, two, one, two. Test. Mic check. One, two, one, two. That may not X mic one two three four five check one two last
002mic on the deis one two three four five is clearly know what you're talking about either you do or you One, two, three, four, five. We're good. Check. One, two, one, two. Good evening everyone. I'd like to bring this uh meeting to order for uh April the 7th, 2025. I need a motion for us to enter close session for the reasons so stated on the agenda. So moved. Second. All in favor? I I Okay, we will move to close session. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening everyone. I'd like to call this um session of the April 7th Board of Orange County Education to order. Uh we are back in open session right now and we will start with the public charge that I will read and we do welcome everyone here tonight and glad to
003see you. The Orange County Board of Education pledges to its citizens to conduct its business in a courteous and productive manner. Showing respect for fellow board members, staff, and citizens. The board asked its citizens to conduct themselves with the same courtesy toward both school personnel and each other. A moment of silence will be observed before each meeting. In addition to the moment of silence, the board will recite the pledge of allegiance. The board asks that you check your cell phones and other electronic devices to be certain that they are either turned off or on vibrate to avoid interruption of the meeting. And now I would ask everyone to stand for the pledge of allegiance. [Music] I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands,
004one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. And we will now observe a moment of silence. Okay, thank you all. All right. Tonight we have several recognitions, uh, two recognitions actually, and we will start with, um, Autism Awareness Month, and Miss Stacy Burns, our executive director of our exceptional children's program is here for that. So, welcome, Miss Burns. Thank you. Good evening, members of the board, Superintendent Jones, and our community, both in person and on Zoom. April is Autism Awareness Month and it's a time to recognize, celebrate, and uplift the voices of individuals with autism and those who support them. Autism is not a limitation. It is a unique way of experiencing and interacting with the world. It is a spectrum rich with diverse strengths, talents, perspectives that enrich our
005schools, our families, and our communities. Tonight we honor our students with autism, their resilience, their brilliance, and their contributions. We acknowledge the parents and caregivers who advocate tirelessly ensuring that their children are seen, heard, and supported. We commend our educators and staff who create learning opportunities where every child has the opportunity to thrive. And we appreciate our community for fostering acceptance, understanding, and belonging. But awareness alone is not enough. Supporting individuals with autism means breaking down barriers, challenging misconceptions, and making sure that every child has the access to the tools, resources, and opportunities they need to succeed. It means embracing the beauty of neurodeiversity and seeing ability before disability. It means standing together, not just in April, but every day to ensure that individuals with autism are just not accommodated, but celebrated. Let's take this
006moment to reaffirm our commitment to compassion, understanding, and excellence in education. Because when we create a world where every individual is valued for who they are, we don't just change their lives, we enrich ours. Thank you for this dedication to this mission and may we continue to move forward in unity, understanding and love. Thank you. Thank you very much, Miss Burn. Okay, our second recognition is National Assistant Principal Week, which is April 7th through the 11th. And we have Mr. Kevin Smith, our chief uh information officer, to talk about that. Thank you so much, Madam Chair, Mr. Vice Chair, members of the board, Dr. Jones, everyone gathered here and listening online. Um, it's an honor to ask everyone to join us in uh also joining the National Association of Elementary School Principles and the National
007Association of Secondary School Principles in recognizing truly the unsung heroes of our public schools, our assistant principles who are counted on to contribute to schoolwide success every day. National AP week is an annual celebration that takes place during the first full week of April as you see here on the slide and its purpose is to recognize the impact that assistant principles have in our local public schools. Uh anyone who knows anything about our schools knows that um a school any organization is going to rise and can can rise no further than the level of its leadership. And that's part of why assistant principles play such a crucial and critical role in ensuring that each and every student and staff member in our schools feels truly safe, seen, and supported. From creating a positive environment to
008help promote the academic su success of every student to furthering the efforts of principles and fellow educators as they serve students every day. Um we always invite uh feedback from the people who are being recognized and Miss Fornier shared words with us um last year that we also uh were happy to share them again this year. This is one of the best ways to state what an assistant principal does and how they see their role in the school. The role of the assistant principal is really in the name. We assist with pretty much everything. We work as a team to handle the daily operations of the school. student discipline, behavior support, family communications, scheduling, transportation, safety drills, IEP and 504 compliance, field trips, district and state testing, and lots of other things that I am
009sure I am forgetting. One aspect of the role that many might not realize is that assistant principles also are instructional leaders who work to implement the principal's vision for teaching and learning at the school. We need to be able to support a variety of content areas by understanding the standards, effective teaching practices, how to differentiate and tier instruction for every student and how to measure and monitor progress. We serve as teammates for teachers on PLC's or professional learning communities or uh collaborative teams. We serve as instructional coaches and teacher evaluators both formally and informally. You basically end up with the definition of a school. The assistant principal really carries the school with them. They're there to serve every person who's in the building. And for that reason, we're proud to honor these APS who you
010see pictured here. And we ask everyone to join us in celebrating them. Whether you use the hashtag of your choice, we welcome you to choose. Or just share a few words of gratitude when you see them in our schools because you will because they're all over the place all day every day. Thank you very much for letting us recognize them with you. Thank you very much for recognizing them. It is a tiresome job, but it is a very fulfilling job. and we appreciate our assistant principles. Okay, I need a motion to adopt our agenda. So moved. Do I have a second? Second. All in favor? I I Okay, agenda is adopted. And now we're going to move into our um local budget hearing. Um and Miss Rhonda Wrath is coming forward and after she does
011her presentation uh we will have speakers if anyone is here and would like to speak to the budget. Um and then uh we will move on from that. So welcome Miss Wrath. Thank you. Good evening Chair Purcell, Vice Chair Richmond, board members, Dr. Jones and um everyone listening and present. This evening uh I am here as you recall last board meeting on March 24th, we had a pretty uh in-depth discussion surrounding the budget. So this evening um I'm not going to hit as much as I did last week. So, uh, let's begin with our budget priorities, which continue to be to recruit and retain a high quality staff, of student proficiency and growth, and ensuring that we allocate our resources to best meet the needs of all of our students. Average daily membership drives funding
012that we receive both from um the local government as well as the state as well as from federal resources. As you can see here um our ADM is pretty um flat and uh is projected to continue to be that way. Next year we're projected to have 6,98 students which uh is based upon our actual number that appeared uh this year is the best month one or two the best of the first 20 days or the best of the first 40 days and that is what um they changed the guidance to be how we would be funded. So uh 6,98 is that number that we will receive funding on. um charter schools. We are funded based upon what that actual number is and right now it is 1,125. Our local operating continuation budget as presented here
013would require an additional $1.8 million. This would be to uh fund a 3% salary increase uh that we are projecting is what our legislators may come in with. Um right now we do not know but based upon what we do know looking at trends um we are uh basing that on 3%. That also includes a retirement increase and a health insurance increase as well as uh an increase in those non-s salary related items which are your um utility cost, fuel, all of those things that we are continuing to see increases in to fund those. Again, that would be an additional $1.8 million to continue operations as they currently are. The expansion initiatives uh that are presented for approval would be uh an increase to our certified teacher supplements as well as an increase to our
014classified supplements uh for those in the lowest band as well as an increase to our bus driver hourly pay as we uh presented in greater detail at our last meeting. That uh would total an additional $2.3 million. And so the items that um have been presented in this budget in totality would be an anticipated 4.1 million that we would be requesting from our commissioners to fund. And just in conclusion, this is um a look again at our fund balance. We uh will not know what that final number is until we are uh have finalized our audit uh for the fiscal year that ends on June the 30th of 2025. We are projecting that we will uh based upon the way things are going at this time be able to put some money back into fund
015balance. Our goal is to get to the uh do uh the single line there of 5.5 million. that is uh 10 to 12% of our local operating budget to have um as cash flow to basically just to be able to have the funds there when uh other funds are delayed in being uh released to the district. Um I thank you for your support in developing a sound budget that focuses on the students of Orange County schools. And um now we will take any comments uh surrounding this budget. Does anyone here have any comments that they'd like to make around our uh proposed budget tonight? Hello, I'm Rachel Phelps Hawkins. It's nice to see all of y'all. I just wanted to say thank you for your past attention to giving raises to this administrative staff and
016the classified staff. And all I wanted to say was, can we afford to fix our schools before we pay our teachers? Our teachers deserve raises. And no telling what's going to happen with the federal and state budget this year. So I would hope hope you would consider our teachers first. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Good evening. Um thank you for the opportunity just to share some thoughts about the budget, the proposed budget. And one of the things that I saw, by the way, I'm Guyion Chamblas and um just wanted to share some thoughts about the budget that I'm not sure as you review might be considered or even still thought about. Um when we look at um some of our most vulnerable youth, we need teachers to be able to support them. That's the
017oxygen mask. because if the teachers aren't paid and aren't supported, thank you to those staff that are supporting the teachers and creating that culture. But we also know that our students are struggling and we see this particularly in those students who become involved in the juvenile justice system. And I wanted to share some stats with you this evening on what that looks like. Um 8% of our Orange County youth who are DJJ involved, that's higher than the state average, have inadequate supervision. 7% higher than the state again have no interest in school activities. Excuse me. 10% which is again higher than the state have already initiated alcohol and other andor other substance use. 4% which starts before age 12. These are Orange County students. 12% again these are all higher than the state have disruption
018in their function due to use. 15% have not been able to enter any previous drug treatment. 16% have negative or delinquent peer associations. 25% have five or more unexcused absences. 22% are failing most of their classes. We see this with our DJJ involved youth. And in Orange County, we do everything possible to try and have programs in place and divert them. But what we are wondering is what is perhaps at the school-based level that could be done for earlier interventions so that these students can have their mental health and emotional social well-being supported so that they can thrive academically and not become at risk for other behavioral issues or worse school dropout rates. And I know that you all are invested and I thank you for the budget to help support the teachers, the staff
019across the whole school system and the students so that they can learn academically. But if we don't help them and support them in their mental health and social emotional well-being, we may be losing them. So I just wanted to share some of that food for thought. Thank you. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Carrie Campbell and I echo Miss Chamblas's remarks and also ask that there be additional and ongoing attention to children with disabilities with school-f facing staff. Uh and thank you to all the schoolf facing staff. They're wonderful. Um my public comments are a bit dry, but it does keep the schools funded. Um I have a handful of requests and I've numbered them. one that the finance and capital meetings moving forth immediately be recorded and posted by noon the following day.
020Presently they are not po they are not recorded and often I'm the only person there. Materials two materials in particular much much more detailed financial records the numbers be attached to the finance and capital committee agenda in advance of the meeting. Three. At an unrecorded finance and capital meeting earlier this year, I was befuddled by the number shared of the amount of capital funds unused to date in Orange County schools. Put modestly, it was millions and millions and millions of dollars more than what I could have only guessed at because I can only guess because the quality of information has been so poor. Notably, my impression only was there was confusion among the board members also in attendance. These meetings need to be recorded and the materials much more deeper. Four, as another sunshine is
021the best disinfectant, not a quote from me. I respectfully ask that approved committee meetings become reunified with the agenda and materials for public friendly accountability and oversight. Simply adding a column with approved minutes lets a reader who can't attend know what happened from beginning to end and perhaps point out mistakes. Five, I ask that the annual environmental report given earlier this year be repeated before the end of the school year with quality information on mold, cancerous particles, repair updates, and pre prevention med measures being taken. I recognize the superintendent has taken action and I appreciate that. The public facing report would be much appreciated and could very well be in the works. Last but not least, in summary, I for one, as a regular attend attendee at public meetings, am dissatisfied with the level of
022accountability required in Orange County schools and Chapel Hill, Carbor schools of local and other funds being spent. Many many more measures are needed to ensure monies are well spent for children education and the wonderful school-f facing staff who do so much every day. Thank you for having public comment today. Thank you. Anyone else like to come forward for public comment? All right. All right. Good evening. Um, I'm Melanie Laskkey. I'm a parent of two teenagers over at Orange High School. I'm also an employee over at Orange High School and I am a North Carolina certified alcohol and drug counselor. I've had the privilege of working with the ADAPT club over at Orange as our club leader and also collaborating with Orange Partnership around the Orange High School substance use intervention and prevention pilot program that
023started that pretty much launched this back um this November, just a few months ago. This program was student driven. Uh the students voiced the need and they were heard. Um, when looking at the budget, we just hope that you consider remedies remedies around substance use and mental health so that we don't continue to lose students academically in both the short term and long term. For example, the implementation of a district-wide substance use prevention and intervention program. As we know, these programs have is have been successful in other districts within North Carolina and other states across the country. Um, sorry. Um, it's been really exciting to see the success that we've had with the pilot program over at Orange High School and we'd love to see it expand. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else for public
024comment? Um, hello. My name is Vidia Casuri. I'm a senior at Orange High School and a lead intern with Orange Partnerships ADAPT program working towards the goal of substance use prevention among youth. Um, as a student, I've observed many instances of the lack of support felt by students um, regarding this issue from adults and staff members. Many students um, either at risk for or are currently suffering from substance use disorders have expressed that they would like to see more support from staff and policy makers. Many students misusing substances have expressed that they want to quit but don't feel comfortable expressing themselves with staff or seeking help or any form of treatment. A lot of them are kind of falling into this cycle of relapsing whenever they try to quit because they have not been able
025to seek any help from adults nearby or they are not aware of the resources they have in place within schools. Um they are also kind of worried about the balance of student and staff confidentiality. And so this is kind of another issue that we're seeing um for why students are kind of hesitant to seek out help from the staff members. And so as a result of this and all the students that we've been speaking to as interns, um myself and other interns advocated last year um to administration at our school for the creation of a treatment and intervention program within Orange High School. This program has now been created um as of this fall as Miss Laskkey was mentioning. Uh it gives the uh staff members and parents the opportunity to refer students for treatment,
026intervention and education and also gives students the opportunity to self-reer to this program to seek out counseling um and help from administration. And since um the beginning of this year and honestly just since November, we've seen a dramatic increase in the help that we've been able to give to students. We've seen a large number of students self-reerring and um a lot of students being involved in this program. Um, and so given this and all the success that we've seen so far and hope to see in the future, we're just hoping that with the budget, um, we can see this program continue in the future and hopefully expand to other schools within the district. Thank you. Thank you very much. Anyone else for public comment tonight? Well, that is we need to call them. already come
027up. Oh, okay. Okay. If you've already come up for this public comment, then you won't be called again. Uh and we will start calling from our list of people who actually signed up um to speak. So, thank you all who came for public comment. You are heard. We are listening. we will do what we can um and um and move forward. But we are very much in favor of looking after our our students number one and our teachers and all of our staff and providing them extra resources if we can. That that is at the forefront for us right now. Okay, Mr. Richmond, can you read the a preview to this. Yes. And then I'll turn it over to you. All right. We will now hear public comments. Speakers will be called in order in
028which they signed up. Each speaker will have three minutes. Yielding time to other speakers is not permitted. If a speaker has written materials they would like to share, please hand them to our board clerk, Franklin McHune, and he would distribute them to the board. The purpose of public comment is for the board to hear from members of the public, not to engage in back and forth discussions. Per our policy, board members will not respond to speakers during the public comment session. The board greatly values public feedback and welcomes all comments regardless of viewpoint. However, however, please be reminded that children are often present at these meetings and that our public comment policy prohibit prohibits profanity, vulgarity, and any personal abuse of any person. We ask that all comments be civil, respectful, and free of personal
029attacks. Any per any speaker who violates our public comment period or otherwise exceeds the bounds of order and decorum will be given a warning. Continued violations may result in the speaker being ruled out of order at which point we will move on to the next speaker. Um the first speaker tonight for public comment is Joy Nemes. Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to speak tonight on the very important topic to some of us here on the upcoming school construction project. Um my name is Joy Nees and I'm a proud Pathways parent of a first grader and a rising kindergartener. I have grown up in the Orange County school system and have lived in Orange County for 47 years and believe in the education that these children receive here and I know you will
030make the right decision and I hope I can give you some strong reasons why option number two makes the most sense. I'm here tonight. Can you hear me? Okay. Okay. I'm here tonight speaking on behalf of all Pathways parents and staff. the ones who are here with me tonight and the ones who were unable to be here this evening who love our school and see option two as the only feasible choice given the current proposals we believe strongly in this fact and this is why option two causes the least disruption to families. It utilizes free land and addresses overcrowding at Efflin Cheeks Elementary. A new school in this area of the county will help manage the significant growth in the western part of Orange County while easing the burden on Efflin Cheeks. However, my primary
031concern is the loss of a public school in northern Orange County if Pathway students were to be relocated, especially for families who rely so much on Pathways. Pathways has been part of this community since 2000 and 2001 with the full opening in 2002. Some Pathways students already have very long commutes from as far as almost Roxboro and moving their home school across town would only increase travel time negatively impacting their learning. Additionally, a K through8 school at Orange Middle would exacerbate traffic problems, creating unnecessary chaos for the neighborhood near the high school Highway 70 and Orange High School Road, which already experienced heavy traffic. But to address the core issue, overcrowding, consider redistributing students so no school is overpop populated. For example, River Park and Evelyn Cheeks. The current imbalance exists due to district lines.
032Am I hitting that? Sorry. And the practice of allowing students to attend schools outside of their assigned zones. Finally, another excellent option that should be discussed is to temporarily designate Hillsbor Elementary as a traditional public school and have those students attend their respective districted schools until additional facilities are built, ensuring the least disruption to all families within the Orange County school system. Ultimately, moving multiple schools around for a new school is most definitely not the best solution for anyone. So, please, on behalf of the parents, our amazing teachers and staff, and most importantly, the students of Pathways Pathways Elementary, I ask you to please choose option two when deciding on how to proceed with the upcoming school construction project. Thank you. Thank you very much. Thank you. Next speaker is Heather Rossy or Rosie, I'm
033sorry. Happy birthday. Good evening. My name is Heather Rosie. Um, thank you for letting me have the opportunity to speak tonight. Um, I was coming here to talk about the proposed changes for Pathways Central and Orange Middle. Um, I have a third grader and a kindergartener coming up to Pathways. Um, and I want my children to be able to attend the home school which serves the northern part of the county. So, when I look at the three plans, option two seems like the plan that's going to be the best that we're not going to move around as many children. Um, Pathways Elementary serves the rural community of Northern Orange County and removing sorry, this homechool option would negatively impact the families in this area. It seems that these proposals disproportionately affect our lower income title
034one schools such as Central and Pathways is now a title one as well. Students at these schools already face considerable challenges and instability in their daily lives. Now we are uprooting multiple students for a choice school that may further disrupt their well-being. And no offense to Hillsbor Elementary. Like it's just a lot of title one schools. So as a fourth grade teacher, I'm also concerned about the potential increase in class sizes. Without class size restrictions in certain grades, combining schools that are already at 60% capacity could lead to overcrowded classrooms. This is a concern for all students, but particularly concerning for students in title one schools where additional resources are often needed. If schools are combined, will curriculum coaches be doubled for K2 and 35 to ensure adequate support for a larger student population? That's
035just one of the questions that was a concern to me. Whether it's combining pathways in Central or Elyn in Central, I urge you to carefully consider all aspects of these proposals. the impact on students, families, and staff is significant, and I hope these changes are sorry, thoroughly thought out before a final decision is made. Um, the one last thing I had was option one and two they're also like not a central like centralized location. The students that come to Hillsboro Elementary are from all over. So, we want Hillsboro Elementary to stay in that centralized location whether like if it's going to have to be at central so that they can come from all around for that choice school. Um, so thank you very much for letting me speak. Thank you. Next speaker is Matthew Newell.
036Good evening. My name is Matthew Newell. I'm a parent of four in Orange County schools. and is with great concern that I come before you today to speak about the proposed changes to the state health plan by the plan's board of trustees under the direction of the state treasurer. At the board meeting on February 7th of this month, the treasur announced that the state health plan has a projected shortfall of $500 million for 2026 and an additional projected $800 million deficit for 2027 due to the substantial rise in the cost of health care nationwide. Additionally, according to the information presented, by multiple measures, North Carolina ranks toward the bottom of cost and affordability, surprising no one. A budget shortfall of this nature isn't entirely unprecedented in the plan's history, as rising healthcare costs are not
037a new phenomenon. In fact, our previous state treasurer was aware of this possibility and had asked the general assembly to include coverage for the predicted deficit within the state budget. But the legislature has not done so thus far. are. And so the solution the treasur is proposing rather than asking the current general assembly to act is for the shortfalls to be charged to teachers and state employees instead. The details for this proposal came during the next board of trustees meeting on March the 7th of this year. And all the options given have the potential to cause substantial harm to North Carolina educators and their families, either by increasing premiums by $10 to $60 a month, eliminating the tobacco waiver that currently saves non-smokers $60 to $100 a month, privatizing retiree insurance by replacing the current
038zero premium PO plan for a for-profit Medicare Advantage plan with worse coverage and fewer options. Deductibles could increase by up to $9,000. Co-pays could increase by $20 to $90 a visit. as well. With an ever worsening economy, cost of living increases that are either non-existent or come nowhere close to keeping up with inflation and the cost of healthcare itself rising. To place this burden onto teachers and other state employees is cruel and entirely avoidable. The state had a revenue surplus in fiscal year 2324 at $413 million and just shy of $1 billion in surplus in fiscal year 2425. The general assembly has an obligation to our state workers to use these resources to fully fund the benefits that our teachers deserve and have earned instead of devoting these funds to private school vouchers and tax
039cuts for the 1%. The good news is that there is still time to intervene. The board of trustees will not vote on a final decision until their board meeting in May, which gives us a month to voice our concerns to the board members directly as well as to our representatives in the legislature who ultimately have the power to fully fund the state health plan. The board has a joint email address that will go to each member which is shpboardnctreasurer.com and I would encourage everyone in the OCS community to use it. This is ultimately not a partisan or political issue but rather an economic issue as all of our lives are made better by our educators, custodial staff, maintenance staff, lunchroom staff, administrative staff, and all who work for the state on behalf of our district's
040children and those all across North Carolina. We owe it to all of them and to all of you to stand up and speak up against this economic threat and to urge our representatives, senators, and state treasurers to do the right thing and fully fund the state health plan with the taxes we already pay. Thank you. Thank you very much. And our final speaker for tonight is Corey Sanders. Um, good evening everybody. Um, I'm Corey Sanders of Mebban. Um, I originally hadn't planned to speak tonight. My wife was going to, but she had to step out um to take our kids home because, you know, not a whole lot in the way of child care available and there's no virtual means to communicate with you guys real time. Um, first I want to thank you guys
041for recognizing autism acceptance month at the start of this. Um, as a parent of an autistic five-year-old and as an autistic myself, I do appreciate that. Um, I'm probably going to ramble because I again did not plan to speak tonight. Um, but, um, like several of spoken, um, I'm mostly here to comment about the the, um, bond proposals. Um, I'm just going to ramble. I'm sorry. Um, short version, I don't understand how a lot of these options make sense for the kids. Someone already mentioned that only one of the options is being proposed. Option number two takes the current school that serves all areas of the county and doesn't move it to the complete north side of the county. For some of us, that adds 30 minutes to our commute to even get our kids
042to school in the morning and makes it impossible to make it to work on time if that were to be the case. Um, and that's not to say, and that's to say the same for anyone who's currently at Pathways who would be moving down to central. just not feasible if you've already built your life and your your daily structure around making a certain commute or your kids have gotten used to being in a certain area. Again, I mentioned my son's autistic. We are currently at HS because it's a year-round school. We were originally with Efflin Cheeks. We got moved out primarily because of overcrowding at Effin Cheeks. um that opened up HS for him, but that structure of being able to be in school with the smaller gaps just he needs that structure on the
043daily. We're coming off of a 3-w week um inter session and it getting him back in the swing is is tumultuous at times. Um, so if if the schools do end up shuffling and we get moved back to to Cheeks or moved out to Pathways or wherever, my son in particular is going to have a lot of trouble switching back over to a traditional calendar. And that's pretty much the only option we would have because we wouldn't be able to get him out to the other side of the county from where we currently are. And I know that I'm not the only one who's in that situation where we've we've for better or worse, we've built our our structure, our schedules, our ability to our ability to serve our kids around where the kids are
044and where is sorry again speaking Um the upheaval in those commutes, the upheaval in changing up the schedules for these kids is not a small deal for any of these kids. And I just hope that as you guys are making your decision, you take that into account how this can affect the children themselves and not just not just the wallets and not just which plan saves the most money in the long run which from how things have been presented looks like the direction things are going. So thank you guys for your time and I again apologize for going over. Thank you very much. That concludes public comment. Okay. All right. Thank you to everyone who came to speak tonight. We appreciate your comments and um we will move on to uh board comments. Let's see.
045Miss Hower, would you like to start first? Sure. Be happy to. Thank you. Um first, I want to thank everyone for coming out tonight. And you know, I think I I I I'll speak for myself, but it makes a difference for us when we hear from you. And what you every one of you had to say was important about our budget, about the mental health and social emotional support for our kids, about our facilities, which is an unprecedented investment that we are making, and it's going to be worth it to take the time to do it right. So, I just want to thank you all for those comments. A little bit on autism awareness month. Just a comment. Um, I just want to encourage people if you haven't seen it to please look out for
046an article that showed up in the New York Times by Holden Thorp, former UNCC Chancellor Holden Thorp, who was diagnosed with autism at age 53. And he um talks about how his neurodeiversity contributes to his genius as a scientist. And it's just a beautiful article and just is worth a read. So, it's in the New York Times in their opinion section. Um, and so that and then finally, I just wanted to talk I'm going to spend just a minute to talk about Hedgehogs. And a big congratulations to the Hedgehogs. Uh, which now, by the way, includes both Cedar Ridge and Har Orange High School. That's our robotics team. Um, and yes, yesterday the team qualified for the state championship. They did they're they came in sixth, but they qualifies them for worlds. But, you know,
047in the last couple weeks, I got to visit their buildroom and and I watched some of their competition in Greensboro, and it's really impressive, and that's why I wanted to share a little bit. The team is 25 years old, one of the oldest, and it has about 30 students who design, program, and build robots, and they're using CAD 3D printers, and other technology. These robots lift things, they position, they climb, they they and so much more. Um, and they they the team raises money, they reach out to the community. And you'll you notice really quickly when you're with these students that it's not just about the competition, it's about their character. And so in addition to their competition robot, um they robot the team also builds robots for special needs students, they've built a a
048robot, a mobility robot to help students move. And they have a new one that they just built that they're really excited about. They showed me um this summer they'll be working with the students at F1 Cheeks Community Center doing STEM programming with a summer camp. Um, and they even in the competition they p they adopted a novice team and helped this novice team get their robot put together, teamed up with the team and together they won. Um, and just a little data because you know I always need data. 100% of the hedgehog seniors will graduate and go on to university, community college or trade school. And it really hit me when a grandparent whispered in my ear how robotics is why his grandson is graduating this year. Robotics is a place where everyone belongs and
049is valued. Uh the team covers the travel cost for kids who can't afford it and the process is discreet which makes this wonderful opportunity available to every student. So I just have to congratulate the Hedgehogs and say you all are winners in every way possible. Thank you. I'm excited again. Sorry, I couldn't help. Okay. Uh, so congratulations to colleagues as well for their I'll give you the bridge version. Um, and it was exciting to see them play and I've attended as well and it is very exciting to see just how they are taught to help your competitors even when it is to their disadvantage. And I think that's a wonderful trait that is taught uh with that. Um also wanted to thank everybody that came out to speak tonight. Uh these are very important topics.
050This is our community. This is how we learn and hear from each other. So thank you so much for coming out and sharing. Um also just wanted to thank all of our assistant principles as mentioned earlier. Uh they're really our backbone and help everywhere. I' I see them all the time in all our events. Uh long hours. Really appreciate all the hard work. Uh Miss Burns, thank you um for acknowledging our autism awareness and thank you to all our t our staff, our teachers for not only your support of our students, but our families and continuing to push the line to see how we include all of our students. Um, I also just wanted to um, you know, share I was able to go to one of our IB multiple exhibits for the art. Uh,
051there's one that's going on right now at the Hillsboro Art Council. It was wonderful to hear from our young artist and how talented they are. So, if you do have time, I would highly recommend uh, stopping by and looking at it. Um also just wanted to mention um we have um our business advisory council meeting today. Uh one of the things they shared is they will be bringing a recommendation to the full board coming up. Uh one of the things they're doing a little different this year than they did last year is there's going to be two groups over the summer. one that's called driving for future that will have an automotive focus and another group building for the future which more is on the construction aspect. Um they're also ensuring this year that they
052give gas cards to students. Um it's about $55 a week to ensure that they can get to work and back. Um, also they're going through multiple interview processes and uh they shared that they're seeing about a 50% higher rate from students that have attended and gone through our our programs over the summer. Um, one other thing that um was shared is that this week lots going on. uh our woodworking uh team from Cedar Ridge will be competing in the states this Wednesday and Thursday. Uh thank you Mr. Pipkin for giving our students that opportunity and definitely look forward to going out and seeing our students live. Uh also uh I would be remissed if I didn't mention the Orange County job fair coming up this weekend, Saturday at Cedar Ridge from 8:00 a.m. to 10:30.
053And lastly, uh the FFA spring farmers market at Orange High School, uh from 8 to 12. These are plants that our students grow and they sell and it helps put money back into the program to sustain it. So, um if you're looking for plants, also they do um welding, art, and others, chairs, uh a lot of the program from the FFA. uh please take time to go out and check it out. Thank you, Mr. Richmond. Yes, ma'am. So, I I attended the on March 19th the second annual Gravity Hill Middle School student showcase along with some other board members. Um and that was a showcase where students were able to um show their projects, assignments, and data to show what they have achieved this year. So that was fun and exciting to um be a
054part of. Thank you, Miss D. Thank you, Madam Chair. Um thank you for everyone who came out. These are some really important topics as was mentioned and I I really appreciate everyone speaking from their personal experience and sharing their perspective um for to better our community for our students and teachers and families. Um, I also wanted to give a shout out for some um great things going on in our our district. Um, I also went and saw the Hedgehogs in Greensboro um this weekend and they had an awesome robot. Um it was a coral reef themed um game that was a little different from some of um past years and um they did an awesome job throughout. And then they won the autonomous award um because the first like 30 seconds of each competition uh
055no one is you know the the drive coach, no one's handling the robot. It's all um pre-programmed. And so that was where they really excelled this year which is awesome. Um, and they have just been huge for students, including my kids, um, for years. It's just amazing. And, and thank you for all the the detail you shared about how good um, Hedgehog has been. And they have been, um, they've spanned the the high schools for years, but um, you know, they tend to be more Orange High School heavy. So, I hope to see more Cedar Ridge and Pathway and Partnership kids joining. But also, I wanted to give a shout out. So that's our F FRC. Also, um, first robotics, the first tech challenge has been growing and thriving in Orange County schools, which really
056broadens our, um, STEM um, access to more students. And we've had some amazing leaders um, teachers and former teachers um, leading that work to serve more kids um, across grade grade levels. um and some of our middle school kids are uh choosing to stay with First Tech Challenge um at the high school level. So that is just it's just the creativity and the the positive thinking is just really awesome. Um and I also um had to want to say many of us have been stressed um and worried about attacks on public schools. Um many of us um were out at various gatherings um expressing our concern and our support for public schools. So um I had the opportunity to do that as well. And I just appreciate everyone who supports our public schools in the
057broad variety of ways that you do as as parents and community members and people speaking out and um just teachers and staff. And so it's important because um we want to do all we can to serve our Orange County schools students and families. Miss Molly, great. Thank you. Um well, I was um off the grid for spring break last week, so I think this may be my shortest uh public comment ever. Um and um and I just want to thank everyone for um coming out and speaking and expressing so many um important perspectives. Um, and uh, I hope our staff and our families had a restful spring break and are feeling energized for the end of the year. Miss Padilla, thank you. Thank you, chair. Thank you everyone for being here tonight and sharing um,
058your your perspective on where you stand with um, substance abuse and mental health and sharing also bringing awareness as to what's happening down in the capital with the our healthc care. Um, I um I had some I was only able to attend one event because I've had a little too much going on for me this month. But I just wanted to say that I attended the Effing Cheeks um performance and it was very moving to seeing how hard they work so hard and it was just fascinating to hear them sing. Um, April is a month of multiple celebrations including Autism Acceptance Month, National Minority Health Month, and Sexual Assault Awareness Prevention Month, and much more. But I'd like to share something with you that is very important. Mental health is a crucial aspect of our
059well-being, yet it is often overlooked or misunderstood. One of the most devastating issues related to mental health is the growing rate of suicide, particularly among young people. Many, this is a word I struggle with, so bear with me. Um, many adolescents, especially those in school, face an overwhelming amount of pressure, whether from academic expectations, social dynamics, or bullying. Bullying in particular can have a profoundly destructive impact on p on person's mental health. The cruel words and actions of peers can isolate, demoralize and push individuals into a state of deep despair. Sadly, for some, this constant emotional pain can lead them to feel that suicide is their only escape. And while bullying in schools is widely recognized, another factor that exacerbates this mental health crisis is the increasing prevalence of anti-immigrant sentiment in in many communities.
060Migrant children often find themselves caught in crossfire of xenophobia and racism, experiencing not just isolation but also targeted hate. The emotional toll of feeling rejected by society, being stigmatized or even being bullied because of one's background or experience can make them feel even more invinc in invisible. However, in in the face of these challenges, there is hope. Communities coming together with an emphasis of empathy and support can be a powerful force in healing. By fostering understanding, inclusion, and respect for everyone, regardless of their background, we can begin to break down the barriers that contribute to the bullying and marginaliz margin marginalization. Schools and local organization must take a proactive role in creating safe spaces where individuals feel valued, heard, and supported. It is essential to cultivate an environment where conversations about mental health are open,
061stigmaree, and part of every everyday dialogue. Community members, regardless of their differences, can be a source of strength, providing solidarity and lifting each other up when the weight of the world feels too heavy. Ultimately, the solution lies in coming together to protect and nurture the mental well-being of all individuals. We must challenge the status quo, stand against bullying and discrimination, and work tirelessly to create a society that celebrates diversity. By looking out for one another, being kind, and offering help when needed, we can pave the way for many for more passionate world, one where no one feels alone, no matter their struggles. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Padilla. Um, I would like to say a big shout out to um the hedgehogs as well, but I would also like to include the parents with that
062because I know that the hedgehogs don't get where they get without a lot of parent support as far as going to these competitions and helping with the building if they can. And uh there I've I've just seen a lot of parent support with uh with them a as well as Miss Day and her team giving that support as well. But um it is a in some cases it's a family affair because it is a uh it's trips to competition. So congratulations to everyone that's involved in that. Um another shout out I'd like to say just to our uh assistant principles, we appreciate you. We know what you do and we support you and all that you do and thank you for everything that you do daytoday to help our kids. Um, I attended a the
063third grade play at Pathways Elementary and learned all about dinosaurs and tacos and it was very entertaining and thoroughly enjoyed. Um, I also attended the student showcase of student work at Gravaly Hill Middle School. And it was wonderful to have the students explain to me what they had been doing, show me in their computer what they had been doing. A great use of digital uh learning that they had and um and it forced them to have conversation with people they had no idea who they were. And um so I was there as well as Mr. Athetherton and um uh Mr. Richmond was there and of course our superintendent was there and and these kids were telling us exactly what they've been learning this year, what their goals in life were. A lot of them said
064they were planning on going to college and they knew where they wanted to go. So I mean this was eighth graders I was talking to. So it was very impressive. Um, I also attended the fifth grade chorus concert at Efflin Cheeks with Miss Padilla there and um, I had been to the third grade one earlier in the year and I can say that neither one of them disappoints. Those kids work very hard. Um, they have a fantastic teacher who is their leader and their parents were sitting there just as proud as they could be cheering their students on and it was wonderful to see. So, um it has been a busy month, um part of March and this part of April, and we look forward to getting everybody back in the schools tomorrow. And um
065I have an eighth grader that is not so excited to go back. U grandson, and I have a kindergarten uh granddaughter who is very excited to go back. So, I hope everybody has a wonderful day tomorrow back in in school. And again, thank you to everyone who came to speak tonight and share your uh thoughts with us because it is very important that we hear that and lots of things that we need to consider um with everything that we have going on in this district right now. So, thank you very much for everyone coming out tonight. Dr. Jones, do you have comments? Yes, ma'am. I do. Good evening, Chair Purcell, Vice Chair Richmond, members of the board, students, staff, and community members. As you heard this evening, um during our recognitions, it is National Assistant
066Principles Week. And while we know that the responsibilities of an AP um change from day to day and we heard from Miss Fornier's comments from last year that her job and every AP's job is to assist their principal, but I just want to add on a little bit to the list. Um, I can vividly remember days as an assistant principal in a middle school and um how much we run up and down hallways and uh sit in classrooms and talk to teachers and and uh chase children sometimes in good ways and sometimes, you know, we have to help them redirect um some of that energy. But uh our assistant principles do a wonderful job here. They uh attend administrative meetings. They create schedules. Any kind of schedule you can think of, they will create it.
067Um, they address behavioral issues. They provide instructional support for our teachers. They conduct classroom observations. They hire staff, communicating with parents and families, ensure everyone is following our safety protocols. They coordinate and attend special events before, during, and after school. Um, they collect and analyze student data, provide insight on how the team should respond. They organize and facilitate professional development. They manage emergencies, transportations, upset parents, and on top of that, they work really hard to build meaningful relationships with students, with um their families, and within the community. And if they do a great job, we invite them back to do it all over again the next day. And so all of that just to say thank you to our assistant principles. Please um if you run into one um at a school, you see them
068at a event, please thank them. Most times they're going to be exhausted, but they're still going to have a smile on their face because that's just what we do. Um we don't do this because um we we we love chasing the babies. We do it because um we know that we make a difference and um that's a very hard job. I remember it. Um I would love to say that it gets easier as you move up, but it doesn't. But um I know as an assistant principal in a middle school, I thought I have to be the hardest person working person in the world. And I see Miss Purcell shaking her head until you become a principal and then you keep moving on. But um again really appreciate our assistant principles and all the work
069that they do. Um I also want to send um a shout out and congratulate our very own Dr. Sheldon Laneir. He's probably shocked right now, but um he is our chief of equity and student achievement. He was one of 39 district leaders from across the state to graduate from the ninth cohort of the North Carolina School Superintendent Association. aspiring superintendent program in March. Um this program provides high um quality professional development to select district leaders who demonstrate exceptional leadership in their current position and aspire to be a superintendent. Currently, there are 52 alumni from this program that have been appointed to superintendencies. I am one of them. So, I know firsthand how intentional and rewarding this program can be. I know how difficult it is as well um with the time constraints there and the
070pressures that Jack Hope put put on all of us. Love them. Um it is a pleasure and an honor to have Dr. Laneir as a member of my team and our team here in Orange County Schools. Just want to congratulate him again for all of his hard work. Congratulations on um completing that program and graduating and I know you have plans but um not too soon. Um but congratulations Dr. [Applause] Laneir and that concludes my comments. Now you know Dr. lineer that when we have uh we congratulate students like this, they have to come up and shake our hands and get your picture made with us. So, we'll be expecting that before we leave today. Congratulations. Okay, I need a motion to approve our consent agenda. So, move. Second. All in favor? I I Okay,
071that is approved. And now we move into our um um action item for uh discussion and action where we are approve or talk about more if we need to our um operating budget approval for this year. Miss Wrath um is coming to join us. Good evening. Good evening. Okay. So, now we're at the step in the process where we need uh your approval uh for this budget to be submitted to the board of county commissioners for um a request for funding for the fiscal year 2526. Again, that is um a continuation budget increase of $1.8 8 million to fund anticipated legislative salary increases as well as benefit increases. And then the expansion item request of um certified teacher supplement increase, classified supplement increase for that lowest band as well as the bus driver hourly pay
072increase. Any questions or comments? Miss Mer, I just and we've talked about this proposal before, so I don't have very many questions, but I did think of two. Um, one is, um, do we have any sense of the potential impact of tariffs on the price of like purchased goods and things like when we I know we purchase well, we purchase food and fuel and we we purchase a lot of different things. Um, are many of those things are we sort of protected in the short term by having like long-term contracts for those things or are those prices that can be sort of more volatile in the near term because we're ongoing purchasing materials? That's a a great question. Um, I'm not prepared to answer it in great detail. I apologize for that. Um, Good evening.
073Great question. Um the short answer is yes. Uh we will be impacted from materials we buy from our maintenance department. Um if fuel was to go up, I mean we you know those rates fluctuate at a state level, but they still have to make a profit. So um given any uncertainties, we'll have to adjust um with the market changes. Okay. So none of those are on sort of a longer term contract with the state or anything where No. So a part of the budget is operations and so we assume that wood and parts and materials will be at a price. However, as this economy adjusts, yeah, we we'll have to do less um with the money that we we have if that happens at all. Okay. Yeah. I mean, I'm really glad that we built
074in into our request the inflation factor and then this is just a whole another thing we may have to deal with. Okay. Um thank you very much. I have one more question. Um, Sarah, can I just jump on that for a second? Because the question that it begs is with tariffs in places, do we need to put in uh additional funds in our continuation budget to cover the costs of materials, right? That that that's really the essence of the question. It seems impossible to know whether all of that will still exist next year and um to what extent. So you know I mean we could ask for a reference for it something you know so I have some experience with uncertainties um uh co was a time of uncertainty and so there are some some
075ways to uh buy in bulk or um there's some type of legal contract Neil may be able to help where you can tell subcontractors that you know up to a certain amount of inflation we will support um but so There are ways to navigate uncertain times. If that answers I think well I just wondering if um if we should in the past when we've expect and Rhonda's already done it or Miss Rhett's already put in an inflation factor in the budget and do we put in a a risk factor for tariffs in the budget in the cont in the continuation budget not the expansion budget and I think the commissioners would understand that. I I just don't know what to Yeah. And and I mean it's it's a good question. I think the the difficulty
076is it's it's hard to predict what that number would need to be. So we go off of the 3% because that's what we're hearing from the state level and we want to be um coordinated with other districts um in doing that 3%. Inflation is a set number that we account for every year. So um I don't quite know where I would put a number for for tariffs. I think um if that becomes something longterm, then that possibly could be something we work in in the future. But um uh it's it's just really hard right now with it being so uncertain and and if it ends up being a huge factor, presumably we have fund balance and things to sort of tide us over for the year if we needed to. But there's just a lot
077of uncertainty around it. I just wasn't sure how much of the I I thought some of our purchases were for like longerterm contracts and that might be more in the food department and stuff those those contracts. Okay. Um uh my other question. Okay. So um it was related to like the ADAPT uh pilot and the idea of doing more for um like mental health support and that kind of thing. And um you know obviously there isn't anything specific in this budget request to that this year. There have been in some past years and we made some difficult, you know, choices about where to focus and prioritize, but um things sort of at the scale of like school level pilots or um you know, potential expansion, things like that. Um are those the kinds of things
078are there avenues for programs at the school level to sort of pursue um you know funding through like school level budgets or you know let's say let's say we had a program in one school that was pretty successful and we did want to expand it to others like what's the sort of pathway outside of this budget request like what's the pathway to getting things like that funded? So we we have um a certain set of funds that can be utilized. So like uh our state at risk funds and so if there's programs that are working well um like we see a lot of schools use that funding for tutoring after school or especially around this time of of year um then certainly other schools can duplicate that. Um then um I don't know if I
079don't know about where the halfway mark is. It would just depend on the what we've set aside um as far as the central office budget to support all schools and what we are able to carve out. But I think I don't think there's any type of program that a school can't start up using their 069 funds if it is a successful program and they can um benefit the majority of students that is dedicate those funds are dedicated for. Yeah. So there are different funding sources where schools can take advantage of. Okay. Miss. Yeah. Um, you know, there's other things that I'd love to add onto this budget, but you've done a really wonderful job and with the board I think has done a really wonderful job putting together a budget that stands on its own.
080And so I just want to thank you for that. And I'm willing to move to approve it. Second. Well, were there any other comments? Yeah, I would like to. Okay. I mean, well, go ahead. And then I Well, I was just going to say um thank you again for all of y'all's hard work and definitely the data to help everybody understand why this is really important, especially right now. Um I just wanted to add that I think we can have discussions about the mental health outside of a request to the county commissioners. You know, just like uh the the field trips and things like that. I think those are things we don't necessarily have to ask for, but I want to make sure that people hear that that just because we don't have it on
081a line item doesn't mean we can't consider it or look at other options of funding. Um the the one question I had is when we're when we're looking at um the federal funds that we have for next year, approximately how much is our federal funds today? So today it's approximately 6.6 million. 6.6 million. All right. Obviously why I'm asking it. Thank you, Miss Dole. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Wrath. I I wanted to also just express and we did talk about it um previous meetings. I I really appreciate the priorities um on um bus drivers and raising um lowest paid tier classified employees as well as teacher supplements and making those more competitive. So I appreciate the focus and also was thinking um about the adapt type program and how that would fall under
082student services monies. And I also was wondering some years we've had um I'm trying to remember where we were last year or if this was two years ago where we had basically like grant monies that schools could apply for. Um I don't remember if we still have that. We don't have that built into our budget. Okay. So it would have to be under a department like student services for example. It wouldn't be just an open Yes. e either that or we'd have to take a current budget that we have and turn it into that. So, so like we have um district level at risk funds that we utilize um in different ways and support schools and some of their initiatives. So, that's a possibility as well. The thing to remember is all of that money
083was budgeted for this year and so if we do redirect that it's taken away from something else. It's not always a bad thing, right? We always want to look for what we're getting um the most return on as far as um student success. So, um those things we're kind of looking at some of our data to see where it needs to be shifted and we're also doing some work with our um student support services as well. But just to piggyback on what Mr. Athetherton said there there's a a number of possibilities, right, where we can support schools and we can create some uh improved programming for our students to ensure that they're in school and successful and supported. um this year has been about assessing where we are and we've been kind of piecing some
084things together to provide support and so as we go into the next school year some things will start to come together a little bit more. It's just almost impossible to focus on everything all at one time. Um but as we see some of those needs and there some of the programmings that really don't cost anything. It's just a matter of the time and um the adult sponsor and we've already um talked to had been in some conversation about the ADAPT program expanding a little bit. Because you specifically mentioned that one. Thank you. Thank you. And and lastly, the tariffs were mentioned in the um staff um like technology refresh, but just as a reference, right? like that contract isn't closed quickly enough to avoid changes in price due to tariffs. Sorry to take that off
085topic for a second, but there was so since we're have the ability to purchase that offstate contract, the price is set. Thank you. Okay, any other comments? Okay. Thank you, Miss Wrath, for all of your hard work and the focus that we are on this year is wonderful. All right, we have a motion to approve. We have a second. So, do I have um Can we vote? All in favor? I I Okay, budget is passed. [Music] [Laughter] All right, Mr. Co Week. Um, an update on our strategic plan priority three that we talked about um about a month ago, I think. Yes, several weeks ago. Yes. Thank you. Good evening, everyone. Um, as you uh will recall, we brought on the March 10th meeting uh some recommended changes to the 2021 to 2026 strategic plan.
086Um I'm going to not repeat the slides that we did in March 10th, but I'm going to move us to um where I compare the current goals. Oops, there we go. um which you can see on the left part of your screen, the current goals in the existing plan. Um when we spoke on March 10th, um I brought forth uh three goals, goal one, two, and three. The board requested um an additional goal. And so the goal that we have here listed um up for um approval is reads uh to maintain a commitment to supporting and hiring and it's we we would like to add make an addendum to what's here. Um so it would actually read maintain commitment to supporting and hiring a qualified and diverse staff that demonstrate a range of skills and
087qualities that support student success. The only other um addition to that that you have not already seen is we do have some um strategies for this goal for about um that you can read here about utilizing fair and consistent practices um creating and maintaining partnerships encouraging a culture that values continuing uh continuous learning and development um and so forth. So uh so moving forward, we are asking for the board to make an approval to um these recommended goal amendments which would be in force until June 2026. Um and again in goal four there is an addition um to supporting and hiring a qualified and diverse staff that demonstrate a range of skills. So happy to take any questions. Anyone have questions? All right. Do I have a motion to approve? To approve. Second. All in
088favor? I Thank you very much for your work on this, Mr. Kick. We appreciate it. All right. Does anyone have anything else tonight? It's the picture with Dr. Laneir. Oh, the picture with Dr. Laneir. We We can't forget that. Thank you, um, Mr. Do for remembering that. Yes, ma'am. All right. Do I have a motion to adjurnn? So move. All in favor? I. We are adjourned. Thank you all very much.